The New Interborough Express + NYC Borough Presidents are ready to Build + NYC’s Prohibited Buildings List Banning Short Term Rentals goes Live + 6 NYC Market Factors to consider for Out of Town Owners

The New Interborough Express

Have you heard of the Interborough Express yet? In short, it’s a large transit project that plans to connect currently underserved areas of Brooklyn and Queens. The project would be built along the existing, LIRR-owned Bay Ridge Branch and CSX-owned Fremont Secondary, a 14-mile freight line that extends from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens. It would create a new transit option for close to 900,000 residents of the neighborhoods along the route. It would connect with up to 17 different subway lines, as well as Long Island Rail Road. 

Using the existing rail infrastructure means the Interborough Express could be built more quickly and efficiently. It would also preserve the Bay Ridge Branch’s use as a freight line, providing an opportunity to connect to the Port Authority’s Cross-Harbor Freight Project. After extensive planning, analysis, and public engagement, Light Rail was chosen because it will provide the best service for riders at the best value. It also announced a preliminary list of stations and advanced other important planning and engineering analysis of the project. Click Here to learn more about the project. And if you’re more of a visual person, check out this video from the MTA 🙂

NYC Borough Presidents are ready to Build

I’m sure you’ve heard that NYC has a shortage of housing, and affordable housing is probably the biggest issue we face. Well, recently the 5 borough presidents got together for a panel discussion on housing and each of them spoke about their plans for their respective boroughs. In this article from City & State New York, they outline the main bullet points for each borough and what each president had to say about their plans. Based on everything we’ve read, there’s no doubt that a lot more housing development will be happening soon, the question is, where, how, and what will be built. Ultimately, this will impact local homeowners so it’s good to keep up with this stuff. 

NYC’s Prohibited Buildings List Banning Short Term Rentals goes Live

I’m sure you’ve heard about Local Law 18 AKA the Short Term Rental Registration Law. The law was passed in an attempt to combat illegal short term rentals in the city. Under the new law short term rental hosts are required to register with the city’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) to confirm that they are the owner or tenant and that they are not in violation of the lease or laws governing short term rentals. 

Now, another part of this new law allows for building owners to submit an application if they would like their building(s) to be prohibited from having short term rentals. Building owners now have an easy way to let the city know short term rentals are prohibited in their buildings. Once an owner adds their building to the Prohibited Buildings List, the OSE cannot approve a registration for that building. 

If you’ve been thinking of doing Airbnb or would just like to make sure that no one does short term rentals in your property, then this should be helpful to understand.

6 NYC Market Factors to consider for Out of Town Owners

If you’re an absentee owner, then you should find this article from Real Estate Weekly quite interesting. In it, the author discusses 6 factors that out of town owners should consider. Things like the consistent demand for free market buildings in good locations, more stringent rent laws that are coming, good cause eviction, increasing rents, new environmental regulations, and strategies to improve existing property value and cash flow from afar. A good read for multi family homeowners in NYC, but especially good for out of town owners.